Mr. Durbin introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions

A BILL

To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption
of open textbooks, and for other purposes.

1.

Short
title

This Act may be cited as
the Open College Textbook Act of 2009
.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1)

The growth of the
Internet has enabled the creation and sharing of open content, including open
educational resources.

(2)

The President has
proposed a new, significant Federal investment in the creation of online
open-source courses for community colleges that will make learning more
accessible, adaptable, and affordable for students.

(3)

The President has
challenged the United States with a goal of having the highest college
graduation rate in the world by 2020.

(4)

More than 80
percent of the 23,000,000 jobs that will be created in the next 10 years will
require postsecondary education, but only 36 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds
are currently enrolled in postsecondary education.

(5)

The high cost of
college textbooks continues to be a barrier for many students in achieving
higher education, and according to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial
Assistance, 200,000 qualified students fail to enroll in college each year due
to cost.

(6)

The College Board
reported that for the 2007–2008 academic year an average student spent an
estimated $805 to $1,229 on college books and supplies.

(7)

Making high
quality open textbooks freely available to the general public could
significantly lower college textbook costs and increase accessibility to such
education materials.

(8)

Open textbooks
can improve learning and teaching by creating course materials that are more
flexible, adaptable, and accessible through the use of technology.

3.

Definitions

In this Act:

(1)

Director

The
term Director means the Director of the National Science
Foundation.

(2)

Institution of
higher education

The term institution of higher
education has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

(3)

Open
license

The term open license means an irrevocable
intellectual property license that grants the public the right to access,
customize, and distribute a copyrighted material.

(4)

Open
textbook

The term open textbook means a textbook or
set of course materials in electronic format designed for use in a college
course at an institution of higher education that is licensed under an open
license.

(5)

Secretary

The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Education.

4.

Grant
program

(a)

Grants
authorized

From the amounts appropriated under subsection (i),
the Secretary is authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to
eligible entities to carry out the activities described in this section,
including creating, updating, or adapting open textbooks. The Secretary shall
award grants in a manner that will result in the creation of a comprehensive
slate of high quality course materials for introductory courses in a variety of
subject areas.

(b)

Eligible
entity

In this section, the term eligible entity
means—

(1)

an institution of
higher education;

(2)

a professor or
group of professors at an institution of higher education; or

(3)

a nonprofit or
for-profit organization that produces open textbooks.

(c)

Duration

Grants
awarded under this section shall be 1 year in duration.

(d)

Applications

(1)

In
general

Each eligible entity desiring a grant under this section
shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and
accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.

(2)

Contents

Each
application submitted under paragraph (1) shall include a description of the
project to be completed with grant funds and—

(A)

a plan for
quality review and review of accuracy of content;

(B)

a plan for access
to ensure the widest possible availability of the digital version of the open
textbook;

(C)

a plan for
distribution and adoption of the open textbook to ensure the widest possible
adoption of the open textbook in postsecondary courses, including, where
applicable, a marketing plan or a plan to partner with for-profit or nonprofit
organizations to assist in marketing and distribution; and

(D)

a plan for
tracking and reporting formal adoptions of the open textbook within
postsecondary institutions, including an estimate of the number of students
impacted by the adoptions.

(e)

Special
consideration

In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give special consideration to applications that demonstrate the
greatest potential to produce—

(1)

the highest
quality and most marketable open textbooks;

(2)

open textbooks
that correspond to the highest enrollment courses at institutions of higher
education;

(3)

open textbooks
that are easily utilized by faculty members at institutions of higher
education; and

(4)

open textbooks
created in partnership with for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in
marketing and distribution.

(f)

Uses of
grants

(1)

Open
textbooks

An eligible entity that receives a grant under this
section shall—

(A)

create a new open
textbook for use in postsecondary coursework;

(B)

update an open
textbook for use in postsecondary coursework; or

(C)

adapt a textbook
into an open format for use in postsecondary coursework.

(2)

License

An
open textbook created, updated, or adapted under paragraph (1) shall be
licensed through an open license.

(3)

Accessibility

The
full and complete digital content of each open textbook created, updated, or
adapted under paragraph (1) shall be—

(A)

posted on an
easily accessible and interoperable website, which site shall be identified to
the Secretary by the eligible entity; and

(B)

made available
free of charge to, and may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or
otherwise altered by, any member of the general public.

(g)

Review
process

The Secretary shall develop a peer review and evaluation
process in consultation with the Director to ensure that open textbooks
created, updated, or adapted under this section are of the highest quality,
accurate in content, and meet or exceed market quality and accessibility
standards.

(h)

Report

Upon
an eligible entity's completion of a project supported under this section, the
eligible entity shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regarding
all project costs, including the value of any volunteer labor and institutional
capital used for the project.

(i)

Authorization
of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated
$15,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as are
necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.

5.

Licensing
materials with a Federal connection

(a)

In
general

Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, educational materials such as curricula and textbooks
created through grants distributed by Federal agencies, including the National
Science Foundation, for use in elementary, secondary, or postsecondary courses
shall be licensed under an open license.

(b)

Accessibility

The
full and complete digital content of each of the materials created as described
in subsection (a) shall be—

(1)

posted on an
easily accessible and interoperable website, which site shall be identified to
the Secretary by the grant recipient; and

(2)

made available
free of charge to, and may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or
otherwise altered by, any member of the general public.

6.

Sense of
Congress

It is the sense of
Congress that institutions of higher education should encourage the
consideration of open textbooks by professors within the generally accepted
principles of academic freedom that established the right and responsibility of
faculty members, individually and collectively, to select course materials that
are pedagogically most appropriate for their classes.

7.

Report to
Congress

Not later than
September 30, 2015, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a report to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the
Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives
detailing—

(1)

the open textbooks created, updated, or
adapted under this Act;

(2)

the adoption of such open textbooks;
and

(3)

the savings generated for students, States,
and the Federal Government though the use of open textbooks.